Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg
Hans and Nancy Samelson

  1. Hans and Nancy Samelson; Dickie and Karlene
  2. Hans and Nancy Samelson
  3. Hans Samelson: Mathematician and Musician

Obituary in "Stanford Magazine", March/April 2006

Hans Samelson, of Stanford, September 22, at 89, of natural causes. A prominent mathematician in differential geometry, topology, and the theory of Lie groups and Lie algebras, he was the author of two textbooks and many research articles. In 1940, he earned his doctorate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and in 1941 accepted a position at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. Later, he taught at the U. of Wyoming, Syracuse U. and the U. of Michigan. He came to Stanford in 1960, where he received the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1977 and served as chair of the mathematics department from 1979 to 1982. After retiring in 1986, he continued to publish articles on contemporary and historical mathematical subjects. Survivors: his wife, Nancy; two sons, Peter and Roger, ’81; one daughter, Amy; and two grandchildren.
Though he became emeritus in 1986, he remained professionally active throughout his retirement, publishing articles on both contemporary and historical mathematical topics. One solved an architectural puzzle associated with the construction of the Brunelleschi Dome in Florence, Italy.
He was active in the Palo Alto Friends Meeting (Quakers) during his retirement, serving as treasurer for several years.

As Hans Samelson was Jewish, he had to flee German NAZIism.

Hans Samelson also was a member of the Mid-Peninsula Recorder Society (MPRO), and along with friend Esther Lederberg, they both played recorders.

Samelson, Hans "Notes on Lie Algebras" 1990.
Samelson, Hans "Introduction to Linear Algebra" 1974.
Samelson, Hans "Topology of Manifolds" 1949-1950.
Hoph, Heinz "Selected Chapters on Geometry" ETH Zürich, Summer Semester 1940, translated by Hans Samelson

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